3 Secret Service agents leaving amid prostitution inquiry

By Ken Dilanian, Tribune Washington Bureau •April 18, 2012 9:10 pm

WASHINGTON — Three Secret Service agents, including two supervisors, who were implicated in the agency’s prostitution scandal are leaving the agency as investigators seek to determine whether the embarrassing episode led to a security breach.

Officials said none of the 11 Secret Service agents who allegedly brought prostitutes to their hotel rooms in Colombia before President Barack Obama visited for a summit last weekend had weapons, radios, itineraries or other potentially sensitive documents in their rooms.

Paul Morrissey, assistant director of the Secret Service, said in a statement that one agency supervisor was allowed to retire, another was “proposed for removal for cause,” and a third nonsupervisory employee had resigned.

Morrissey said the supervisor being fired had 30 days to appeal and the right to private legal counsel. None of the three was identified.

Morrissey said the investigation was in its early stages and involved “all investigative techniques available to our agency,” including polygraph examinations, interviews with the employees involved and witness interviews being conducted in Cartagena, Colombia.

The other eight agents implicated in the scandal are on administrative leave and have had their security clearances suspended.

“Since these allegations were first reported, the Secret Service has actively pursued this investigation, and has acted to ensure that appropriate disciplinary action is effected,” Morrissey said. “We demand that all of our employees adhere to the highest professional and ethical standards and are committed to a full review of this matter.”

Ten members of the U.S. military also are under investigation for misconduct, and investigators have identified at least 20 women believed to be prostitutes who were brought into the hotel.